The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes.
We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

The
case of Rabbi Ephraim Bryks who has been dogged by allegations of
sexual abuse against children, but never charged with a crime will be
the subject matter of part of an episode in a documentary series
currently being produced by Apocryphal Productions for Vision
Television.

According to the Jewish Week,
[New York] June 29, 2010, "Rabbi Bryks, who was investigated by police
in Winnipeg, on suspicion of inappropriate contact with children at
Winnipeg’s Torah Academy where he was principal, resigned from the
Orthodox Union’s Rabbinical Council of America in 2003 without admitting
any wrongdoing. Bryks, "reached a negotiated agreement to leave the
Rabbinical Board of Queens in the fall of 2009," as indicated in the Jewish Week.

"Rabbi Bryks, as principal of the Torah Academy in Winnipeg was found
in 1988 to have tickled and hugged some students, but denied more
serious charges of sexual molestation, according to press reports. While
the more serious charges were not substantiated by an investigation by
Winnipeg social workers, the substantiated contact was deemed
inappropriate and the Winnipeg Child and Family Services agency
recommended that the school adopt guidelines against such
behavior,"according th the Jewish Week.

The school closed in 1991, about a year after Rabbi Bryks left Winnipeg.
Allan Levine in his recent book “Coming of Age,” on p.420, refers to
"the agency issuing a report that concluded that Bryks' behavior of
having children sit on his lap while he tickled them was "neither
appropriate nor professional", but not illegal."

Rabbi Henry Balser

Tanya Fleet of Apocryphal Productions, who is researching visual material for the documentary series, told the Winnipeg Jewish Review
that the series will consider “the issue of sexual abuse or allegations
thereof pertaining to children in religious communities… The themes to
be examined are why it is prevalent, why is it kept quiet, and what is
now being done to try and stop potential abuse. We will talk to experts
in the fields, activists, survivors and their families.”

According to Fleet,
the series which is being produced by Christopher Sumpton and Robin
Benger, will deal with these issues in the Catholic community, the
Evangelical Christian community, as well as in Judaism and Islam.

The painful saga
relating to Rabbi Bryks in Winnipeg will be part of an episode that will
focus on orthodoxy in Judaism, and will also deal with the orthodox
Jewish community in Brooklyn.

In 1993, after Rabbi Bryks moved to New York, a former student in
Winnipeg accused him of having fondled him at the school when the
student was 8, but prosecutors reportedly declined to file criminal
charges, citing lack of corroboration. When the boy, Daniel Leven. at
age 17, was asked to re-record a statement he had given earlier, he
committed suicide.

Martin Levin [Daniel’s father] has been interviewed for the upcoming documentary series.

Levin, currently lives in Toronto and is the book editor of the Globe and Mail.

Former Winnipegger
Alan Mendelsohn is the producer of the episode of the series relating to
the Jewish community. Mendelsohn has previously worked at the CBC as a
producer at The Journal.

Herzlia Adas Yeshurun Synagogue in Winnipeg, where Rabbi Bryks
served, took down the plaques in his honour on the Tree of Life in the
lobby of the synagogue in September, 2010. Herzlia's actions, close to
17 years after Levin's suicide, occurred less than two months after members of the
Jewish community in Winnipeg had a full opportunity to read the article
by Adam Dickter, Assistant Managing Editor of the Jewish Week (New
York), June 29, 2010 , which was posted in the latter part of July, 2010
on this website and elsewhere. To read this article click on Rabbi Ephraim Bryks Leaves Rabbinical Board of Queens Under A Cloud.

In the email sent to Herzlia membership days before Yom Kippur this
past year, Dr. Earl Hershfield, President of the Board of Herzlia wrote:

“In response to repeated requests, and after much
deliberation, the Board of Directors of Herzlia – Adas Yeshurun has
decided to remove all plaques on the Tree of Life in the Shul lobby
dedicated in honour of [Rabbi] Ephraim Bryks”[emphasis added].

He also wrote “As a Shul, we have a responsibility to provide moral and ethical leadership for our community.”

In the same email,
he wrote “In accordance with a recent resolution taken by the Rabbinical
Council of America, Herzlia – Adas Yeshurun condemns all forms of abuse
in the strongest terms. Policies and procedures are being developed by
your Board to direct future action. Reporting suspected abuse to the
appropriate authorities does not violate the Torah’s prohibition of
mesirah (turning a fellow Jew over to a non-Jewish authority) or arka’ot
(adjudicating cases in a secular court). We are obligated by Jewish law
to do so as the concern for saving a life and respecting the law of
land are paramount.”

Levine in his
recent book “ Coming of Age,” on p.420 writes that “Daniel Levin alleged
that Bryks molested him." He further wrote "According to Sarah Levin,
[Daniel’s mother] Bryks had given Daniel candy to keep him quiet and
told him that God would punish him if he ever told anyone what had
transpired. This threat of retribution was echoed by other children who
came forward.”

A previous
documentary was made on the case of Rabbi Bryks by CBC Television and
produced by Noah Erenberg, a member of our Jewish community and a
graduate of the Joseph Wolinsky class of 1982. The documentary was
hosted by the late Danielle Keefler and aired nationally in February
1994.

Levine’s book says on page 421, “Attempts by Rabby Bryks to sue CBC
and CNN, which also broadcast the documentary, were discontinued for
lack of funds.”
Noah Erenberg's name is not mentioned in Levine's book on pages 419-421.

The Winnipeg Jewish Review has spoken to Rabbi Henry Balser who is now living in Florida.
Rabbi Balser told the Winnipeg Jewish Review “I almost broke
into tears when I read [in the Winnipeg Jewish Review] that Herzlia
Synagogue finally took down the plaques in honour of Rabbi Bryks.”

In his book, Levine writes on page 420 “Bryks was nearly hired to
head a Jewish school in Montreal until parents there learned of the
allegations in Winnipeg.”
Rabbi Balser told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that he was
giving spiritual advice and comfort to a family who came to him,
alleging their child had been molested by Rabbi Bryks.

Rabbi Balser told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that “the vice principal from the Montreal [school] contacted me on the advice of an orthodox Rabbi.”

Rabbi Balser said,
“I relied not just on the word of the family that I spoke with. I also
did some investigation of my own, and decided then that I was on solid
ground in telling the Rabbi in Montreal that I would not recommend
Bryks.”

Rabbi Balser told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that he told the Montreal Rabbi this even though he feared potentially being sued by Bryks.

Balser also told the Winnipeg Jewish Review
that he was thankful that Shaarey Zedek Synagogue backed him up and was
willing to pay any related legal fees he may have had to incur in so
doing.

The Winnipeg Jewish Review will report on further details of the upcoming documentary series to be aired on Vision Television in due course.

In his book on page 419, Levine writes that the "biggest controversy in the Herzlia's history-in fact, arguably the most controverisal matter in the annals of the Winnipeg Jewish community-involved Rabbi Bryk's..." [emphasis added].

In his book on page 420 Levine refers to the Winnipeg-produced CBC television documentary about Bryks as "controversial."

[Reprinted with Permission] A Queens rabbi who has been dogged by
allegations of sexual abuse against children, but never charged with a
crime, has reached a negotiated agreement to leave the Rabbinical Board
of Queens in the fall, The Jewish Week has learned.

Rabbi Ephraim Bryks, who was investigated by police in Winnipeg,
Canada, on suspicion of inappropriate contact with children at a yeshiva
where he was principal, resigned from the Orthodox Union’s Rabbinical
Council of America in 2003 without admitting any wrongdoing.

Sources told The Jewish Week that the Queens board, known as the Vaad
Harabonim, had long sought to have Rabbi Bryks removed as allegations
against him persisted but was advised by lawyers that doing so was
complicated because there has been no formal legal or halachic
proceeding against him. Rabbi Bryks has been a member of the Vaad since
the early ‘90s. Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, co-president of the Vaad, would
tell The Jewish Week only that “we reached an agreement with an
individual that will take full effect in October.”

The October date, coming at the start of the new Jewish year, appears
to coincide with the time when membership renewals are considered.

The board’s other president, Rabbi Richard Weiss, declined to comment
and would not confirm or deny that the person involved in the agreement
was Rabbi Bryks.

Last June, the same Vaad ordered Queens Pita, a bakery that it
certifies kosher, to terminate the ownership interest of a man, Isaac
Ebstein, who had pled guilty to abuse charges involving a 10-year-old
boy. The bakery’s co-owner reportedly complied in order to maintain the
kosher certification.

Rabbi Bryks has held leadership positions at two Queens yeshivas, but
left for unspecified reasons. He now makes his living as a mortgage
broker, has a blog seeking to field questions on halachic issues and is
said to involve himself in marriage counseling, advocacy for women
seeking religious divorces and in a rabbinical court, the Queens Beth
Din, which he convenes with other rabbis.
Asher Lipner, a clinical psychologist who counsels sex abuse victims
and, in a Jewish Week op-ed last week accused the Vaad of Queens of
“protecting one of their own,” without mentioning Rabbi Bryks by name,
said the Vaad had a responsibility to publicize the circumstances of
Rabbi Bryks’ departure from the Vaad if it has to do with the past
allegations.

“If the agreement was due to some other reason that is personal and
does not affect the community and they are not telling anyone, that is
fine with me,” said Lipner. “But if the reason the agreement was reached
is because they suspect him of being a danger to the community, it’s
their responsibility to let people know why they reached that agreement
in order that he doesn’t join another organization.

“They gave a heksher and made this rabbi kosher,” Lipner continued.
“If they are removing their heksher, they have to tell people he is not
kosher. If they don’t, it leads to more people getting hurt.”
Religious organizations generally have a free hand in expelling
members as they see fit, but must be careful how they do it, said Marc
Stern of the American Jewish Congress, an expert on matters of religion
and law.

“The internal workings of clergy organizations are beyond the
scrutiny of the court,” said Stern. But he added that leveling a
specific charge of illegal conduct against an individual in the process
of severing ties to him could open the organization to legal action.

“Clergy are not exempt from slander suits or defamation,” said Stern.
“In general, one of the reasons for throwing people out or taking
action against a member of the clergy is to alert members of the faith
that X’s conduct is not acceptable and they need to be aware.”

Rabbi Bryks did not respond to two messages left at his home or to e-mails sent via his blog and Facebook.

Rabbi Schonfeld said Rabbi Bryks was never involved in any kashrut
certification work, a key function of the Vaad, and never held any
leadership positions in the organization. In 2008, he was reported in
the Jewish Star of Long Island to be acting as an advocate on behalf of a
woman trying to obtain a religious divorce, with a notation that he was
a Vaad member.

Rabbi Bryks’ resignation from the RCA after 25 years of membership
came at the same time the group, at its annual convention, adopted
policies and procedures to deal with allegations of sexual misconduct,
The Jewish Week reported at the time. But the rabbi told the council’s
leadership then that the resignation should in no way be taken as
admission of wrongdoing. Since he was no longer working in Jewish
education, he did not need to belong to a national rabbinical council,
Rabbi Hershel Billet, then the council’s immediate past president,
quoted Rabbi Bryks as saying then.

A Denver native, Rabbi Bryks, as principal of the Torah Academy in
Winnipeg was found in 1988 to have tickled and hugged some students but
denied more serious charges of sexual molestation, according to press
reports. While the more serious charges were not substantiated by an
investigation by Winnipeg social workers, the substantiated contact was
deemed inappropriate and the Winnipeg Child and Family Services agency
recommended that the school adopt guidelines against such behavior. The
school has since closed.

In 1993, after Rabbi Bryks had moved to New York, a former student in
Winnipeg accused him of having fondled him at the school when the
student was 8, but prosecutors reportedly declined to press charges,
citing lack of corroboration. When the boy, Daniel Leven, at age 17, was
asked to re-record a statement he had given earlier, he committed
suicide.

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Survivors ARE Heroes!

The Awareness Center believes ALL survivors of sex crimes should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.

Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.

For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!